03/04/2017

Sistema announces date of AGM and changes to dividend policy

Moscow, 3 April 2017 – Sistema PJSFC (LSE: SSA, MOEX: AFKS) (“Sistema” or “the Company”), a Russian public diversified holding company, announces that its Board of Directors at a meeting on 1 April 2017 approved a resolution to convene the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) on 24 June 2017. The record date for shareholders eligible to participate in the AGM is 30 May 2017.

The agenda of the AGM includes among others the following items: approval of the annual report and annual financial statements for 2016; approval of dividends; election of members of the Company’s Board of Directors and Audit Commission; approval of the auditors.

The Board of Directors recommended that the AGM approve a final dividend for the 2016 financial year of RUB 7.8 billion, representing a payment of RUB 0.81 per ordinary share (RUB 16.2 per GDR). As a result, the total amount of the interim and final dividends paid for 2016 will be RUB 11.5 billion, which is equivalent to a dividend yield of 6% based on the weighted average price of Sistema’s shares in 2016.

The Board of Directors also recommended that the AGM set the record date establishing eligibility to receive the dividend as 13 July 2017.

The Board of Directors also approved amendments to Sistema’s dividend policy. In line with the updated dividend policy, total dividends recommended for each reporting year will be, at a minimum, the higher of either an amount equivalent to a dividend yield of 6% per Sistema ordinary share or RUB 1.19 per Sistema ordinary share.

Sistema will seek to distribute dividends twice per year, based on its results for the first nine months and the full year (previously for the first six months and the full year). Interim dividends paid based on the financial results for the first nine months of the reporting year will be included in calculations of the total recommended amount of dividends for the reporting year. To calculate the dividend yield per ordinary share of Sistema for each reporting year, the Board of Directors will use the weighted average price of one ordinary share of Sistema on Moscow Exchange for the same reporting year.

Mikhail Shamolin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sistema, said: “Sistema has made substantial progress on the implementation of its strategy, and on increasing cash flow and the value of its assets. The dividends the Board of Directors is recommending for 2016 and the updated dividend policy, which increases the minimum targeted dividend yield and the baseline dividend per share, reflect our drive to share the Company’s successes with investors, and represent an important step in creating a history of progressive dividend payments for our shareholders.”

Sistema PJSFC is a publicly-traded diversified Russian holding company serving over 150 million customers in the sectors of telecommunications, high technology, banking, retail, timber processing, agriculture, real estate, pharmaceuticals, tourism and healthcare services. The company was founded in 1993. Its revenue in 2015 reached RUB 708.6bn; its total assets equalled RUB 1.3tn as of 31 December 2015. Sistema's global depositary receipts are listed under the “SSA” ticker on the London Stock Exchange. Sistema’s ordinary shares are listed under the “AFKS” ticker on the Moscow Exchange. Website: www.sistema.ru.

The relationship of the total amount of dividends paid per ordinary share for the reporting year to the weighted average share price for the same year.